National Board of Review

2014 National Board of Review - Top Ten Films WinnerAmerican SniperNavy S.E.A.L. sniper Chris Kyle's (Bradley Cooper's) pinpoint accuracy saves countless lives on the battlefield and turns him into a legend. Back home to his wife and kids after four tours of duty, however, Chris finds that it is the war he can't leave behAmazonBirdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)A washed-up superhero actor attempts to revive his fading career by writing, directing, and starring in a Broadway production.AmazonBoyhoodThe life of Mason, from early childhood to his arrival at college.AmazonFuryA grizzled tank commander makes tough decisions as he and his crew fight their way across Germany in April, 1945.AmazonGone GirlWith his wife's disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus,...

2013 National Board of Review - Top Ten Films Winner12 Years a SlaveIn the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.AmazonFruitvale StationThe story of Oscar Grant III, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident, who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family, and strangers on the last day of 2008.AmazonGravityTwo astronauts work together to survive after an accident leaves them stranded in space.AmazonInside Llewyn DavisA week in the life of a young singer as he navigates the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961.AmazonLone SurvivorMarcus Luttrell and his team set out on a mission to capture or kill notorious Taliban leader Ahmad Shah, in late June 2005. Marcus and his team are left to fight for their lives in one of the mos...

2012 National Board of Review - Top Ten Films WinnerArgoActing under the cover of a Hollywood producer scouting a location for a science fiction film, a CIA agent launches a dangerous operation to rescue six Americans in Tehran during the U.S. hostage crisis in Iran in 1979.AmazonBeasts of the Southern WildFaced with both her hot-tempered father's fading health and melting ice-caps that flood her ramshackle bayou community and unleash ancient aurochs, six-year-old Hushpuppy must learn the ways of courage and love.AmazonDjango UnchainedWith the help of a German bounty hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner.AmazonLes MisérablesIn 19th-century France, Jean Valjean, who for decades has been hunted by the ruthless policeman Javert after brea...

2011 National Board of Review - Top Ten Films WinnerDriveA mysterious Hollywood stuntman and mechanic moonlights as a getaway driver and finds himself in trouble when he helps out his neighbor in this action drama.AmazonHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint), and Hermione (Emma Watson) search for Voldemort's (Ralph Fiennes') remaining Horcruxes in their effort to destroy the Dark Lord as the final battle rages on at Hogwarts.AmazonJ. EdgarJ. Edgar Hoover, powerful head of the F.B.I. for nearly fifty years, looks back on his professional and personal life.AmazonThe ArtistAn egomaniacal film star develops a relationship with a young dancer against the backdrop of Hollywood's silent era.AmazonThe DescendantsA land baron tries to reconnect with...

2009 National Board of Review - Top Ten Films Winner500 Days of SummerAn offbeat romantic comedy about a woman who doesn't believe true love exists, and the young man who falls for her.AmazonA Serious ManLarry Gopnik, a Midwestern physics teacher, watches his life unravel over multiple sudden incidents. Though seeking meaning and answers amidst his turmoils, he seems to keep sinking.AmazonAn EducationA coming-of-age story about a teenage girl in 1960s suburban London, and how her life changes with the arrival of a playboy nearly twice her age.AmazonInglourious BasterdsIn Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a plan to assassinate Nazi leaders by a group of Jewish U.S. soldiers coincides with a theatre owner's vengeful plans for the same.AmazonInvictusNelson Mandela, in his first term a...

2008 National Board of Review - Top Ten Films WinnerBurn After ReadingA disk containing mysterious information from a CIA agent ends up in the hands of two unscrupulous and daft gym employees who attempt to sell it.AmazonChangelingGrief-stricken mother Christine Collins (Angelina Jolie) takes on the L.A.P.D. to her own detriment when it tries to pass off an obvious impostor as her missing child.AmazonDefianceJewish brothers in Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe escape into the Belarussian forests, where they join Russian resistance fighters, and endeavor to build a village, in order to protect themselves and about one thousand Jewish non-combatants.AmazonFrost/NixonA dramatic retelling of the post-Watergate television interviews between British talk-show host David Frost and former president Ric...

2007 National Board of Review - Top Ten Films WinnerAtonementFledgling writer Briony Tallis, as a thirteen-year-old, irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's lover of a crime he did not commit.AmazonInto the WildAfter graduating from Emory University, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandons his possessions, gives his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhikes to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Along the way, Christopher encounters aAmazonJunoFaced with an unplanned pregnancy, an offbeat young woman makes an unusual decision regarding her unborn child.AmazonLars and the Real GirlA delusional young man strikes up an unconventional relationship with a doll he finds on the Internet.AmazonMichael ClaytonA law firm brings...

2006 National Board of Review - Top Ten Films WinnerBabelTragedy strikes a married couple on vacation in the Moroccan desert, touching off an interlocking story involving four different families.AmazonBlood DiamondA fisherman, a smuggler, and a syndicate of businessmen match wits over the possession of a priceless diamond.AmazonFlags of Our FathersThe life stories of the six men who raised the flag at the Battle of Iwo Jima, a turning point in World War II.AmazonLetters from Iwo JimaThe story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it.AmazonLittle Miss SunshineA family determined to get their young daughter into the finals of a beauty pageant take a cross-country trip in their VW bus...

2005 National Board of Review - Top Ten Films WinnerA History of ViolenceA mild-mannered man becomes a local hero through an act of violence, which sets off repercussions that will shake his family to its very core in this action thriller.AmazonBrokeback MountainThe story of a forbidden and secretive relationship between two cowboys, and their lives over the years.AmazonCapoteIn 1959, Truman Capote learns of the murder of a Kansas family and decides to write a book about the case. While researching for his novel In Cold Blood, Capote forms a relationship with one of the killers, Perry Smith, who is on death row.AmazonCrashLos Angeles citizens with vastly separate lives collide in interweaving stories of race, loss and redemption.AmazonGood Night, and Good Luck.Broadcast journalist Edward R...